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From agriculture and law enforcement to entertainment and disaster response, industries are increasingly turning to drones for help, but the growing volume of these aircraft will require trusted safety management systems to maintain safe operations.<\/p>\n
NASA is testing a new software system to create an improved warning system \u2013 one that can predict hazards\u00a0to drones\u00a0before they occur. The In-Time Aviation Safety Management System (IASMS) will monitor, assess, and mitigate airborne risks in real time. But making sure that it can do all that requires extensive experimentation to see how its elements work together, including simulations and drone flight tests.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf everything is going as planned with your flight, you won\u2019t notice your in-time aviation safety management system working,\u201d said Michael Vincent, NASA\u00a0acting deputy project manager\u00a0with the System-Wide Safety project at NASA\u2019s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. \u201cIt\u2019s before you encounter an unusual situation, like loss of navigation or communications, that the IASMS provides an alert to the drone operator.\u201d<\/p>\n
The team completed a simulation in the Human-Autonomy Teaming Laboratory at NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center in California\u2019s Silicon Valley on March 5 aimed at finding out how critical elements of the IASMS could be used in operational hurricane relief and recovery.<\/p>\n
During this simulation, 12 drone pilots completed three 30-minute sessions where they managed up to six drones flying beyond visual line of sight to perform supply drops to residents stranded after a severe hurricane.\u00a0Additional drones flew scripted\u00a0search and rescue operations and levee inspections\u00a0in the background.\u00a0Researchers collected data on pilot performance, mission success, workload, and perceptions of the experiences, as well as the system\u2019s usability.<\/p>\n
This simulation is part of a longer-term strategy by NASA to advance this technology. The lessons learned from this study will help prepare for the project\u2019s hurricane relief and recovery flight tests, planned for 2027. \u00a0<\/p>\n
As an example of this work, in the summer of 2024 NASA tested its IASMS during a series of drone flights in collaboration with the Ohio Department of Transportation in Columbus, Ohio, and in a separate effort, with three university-led teams.<\/p>\n
For the Ohio Department of Transportation tests, a drone flew with the NASA-developed IASMS software aboard, which communicated back to computers at NASA Langley. Those transmissions gave NASA researchers input on the system\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n
NASA also conducted studies with The George Washington University (GWU), the University of Notre Dame, and Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). These occurred at the U.S. Army\u2019s Fort Devens in Devens, Massachusetts with GWU; near South Bend, Indiana with Notre Dame; and in Richmond, Virginia with VCU. Each test included a variety of types of drones, flight scenarios, and operators.<\/p>\n
Each drone testing series involved a different mission for the drone to perform and different hazards for the system to avoid. Scenarios included, for example, how the drone would fly during a wildfire or how it would deliver a package in a city. A different version of the NASA IASMS was used to fit the scenario depending on the mission, or depending on the flight area.<\/p>\n
When used in conjunction with other systems such as NASA\u2019s Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management, IASMS may allow for routine drone flights in the U.S. to become a reality. The IASMS adds an additional layer of safety for drones, assuring the reliability and trust if the drone is flying over a town on a routine basis that it remains on course while avoiding hazards along the way.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are multiple entities who contribute to safety assurance when flying a drone,\u201d Vincent said. \u201cThere is the person who\u2019s flying the drone, the company who designs and manufactures the drone, the company operating the drone, and the Federal Aviation Administration, who has oversight over the entire National Airspace System. Being able to monitor, assess and mitigate risks in real time would make the risks in these situations much more secure.\u201d<\/p>\n
All of this work is led by NASA\u2019s System-Wide Safety project under the Airspace Operations and Safety program in support of the agency\u2019s Advanced Air Mobility mission, which seeks to deliver data to guide the industry\u2019s development of electric air taxis and drones.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n